As electronic products become smaller and more powerful, there is an increasing need for effective heat dissipation. An effective heat exchange method is necessary for the equipment to function reliably in a compact space. To tackle the limitations of current microfluidic cooling technology, including difficulty in manufacturing, maintenance, and cost reduction, a heat exchange method with a simple system is proposed in this work. This method is based on the electrocapillary effect, using eutectic gallium-indium alloy droplets with high thermal conductivity, surface tension, and controllability as the basic unit. An electric field is applied to generate unevenly distributed charges in the electric double layer on the droplet surface, thereby creating a surface tension gradient that can drive the surrounding solution to flow. Simultaneously, the oscillation of the droplet can also intensify the disturbance of the solution. The violent disturbance of the solution causes the heat transfer mode to change from conduction to convective heat transfer and greatly reduces the thermal resistance, resulting in a substantial increase in heat flux. For this heat transfer method, the temperature distribution and flow characteristics of the solution in low-frequency oscillating and direct-current-biased alternating current electric fields are studied, and the effect of voltage, frequency, and the number of droplets on heat transfer enhancement is clarified. Compared with conduction without internal disturbance, the heat flux can be increased by up to 110% based on the combined effect of two droplets. This work provides a solution for enhancing the heat transfer of microfluidics.

中文翻译：

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一种基于镓基液态金属的电毛细管效应的增强传热方法。


随着电子产品的小型化和高性能化，对有效散热的需求也越来越大。有效的热交换方法对于设备在紧凑的空间内可靠运行是必要的。为了解决当前微流控冷却技术的局限性，包括制造、维护和降低成本的困难，本研究提出了一种系统简单的热交换方法。该方法基于电毛细管效应，以具有高导热性、表面张力和可控性的共晶镓铟合金液滴为基本单位。施加电场以在液滴表面的双电层中产生分布不均匀的电荷，从而产生可以驱动周围溶液流动的表面张力梯度。同时，液滴的振荡也会加剧溶液的扰动。溶液的剧烈扰动使传热模式由传导传热转变为对流传热，并大大降低了热阻，导致热通量大幅增加。对于这种传热方法，研究了溶液在低频振荡和直流偏置交流电场中的温度分布和流动特性，并阐明了电压、频率和液滴数量对传热增强的影响。与无内部干扰的传导相比，基于两个液滴的综合效应，热通量可以增加高达 110%。这项工作为增强微流控的传热提供了一种解决方案。